Carlos Bocanegra scored on a header in the 69th minute, and the United States escaped from Guatemala with a chippy 1-0 victory Wednesday in the Americans’ opener in the semifinal round of World Cup qualifying in Guatemala City.

Unmarked about 3 yards from the goal, the U.S. captain headed in DaMarcus Beasley’s corner kick for his 10th goal in 59 international appearances.

Beasley had entered the match three minutes earlier when a bleeding Eddie Lewis came off on a stretcher after his head collided with a forearm from Guatemala’s Jose Manuel Contreras when both leaped for the ball.

“For us, it was a hard-fought three points. The referee did a very solid job trying to deal with a very hard-fought game,” U.S. coach Bob Bradley said. “It was pure determination of the team which is necessary to win games like this one.”

Bocanegra played a solid all-around game, disrupting Carlos Ruiz and Carlos Manuel Contreras from getting the crossing passes that could have led to dangerous chances.

The U.S. team played a man short after defender Steve Cherundolo was ejected in the 60th minute for tripping up Freddy Garcia and receiving his second yellow card. Cherundolo will miss the Sept. 6 qualifier at Cuba.

U.S. goalkeeper Tim Howard made seven saves on a busy night, with Guatemala outshooting the 31st-ranked Americans 16-9 before a capacity crowd of about 25,000. Howard, and midfielders Pablo Mastroeni and Clint Dempsey also were given yellow cards, meaning they would be suspended if they get another yellow card in qualifying.

The Americans, favored to make their sixth consecutive World Cup appearance, had tied all four of their previous qualifiers at Guatemala, where they had been 1-4-4 overall.

Road victories are key in qualifying, and Trinidad and Tobago defeated 3-1 in Havana, giving the United States and the Soca Warriors a big advantage in the four-team group. The top two teams advance to next year’s regional finals in the North and Central American and Caribbean region.

Mexico won in Sven-Goran Eriksson’s debut as coach, rallying to beat Honduras 2-1 in Mexico City. Pavel Pardo scored twice in the second half. Eriksson, a former manager of England’s national team and Manchester City, was hired in June to replace Hugo Sanchez after Mexico’s under-23 team failed to qualify for the Beijing Olympics.

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